Glendale football forfeits league game with Muir
Citing a lack of healthy players, the Glendale High football team decided Monday to forfeit its Pacific League road game against Muir on Friday.
Glendale athletic director Pat Lancaster confirmed the decision in a text message Monday.
Glendale (1-4, 0-1 in league) competed last Friday against visiting Burroughs and suffered a 49-6 defeat at Moyse Field. Glendale’s next game is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 3 at home against Arcadia, the defending league champion.
Glendale second-year coach Cary Harris said Monday that the Nitros are down to 13 healthy players after beginning the season with around 28 athletes.
“It’s a tough thing, but it’s something we needed to do,” Harris said. “We’ve lost a lot of players over the past few games, including getting hit hard by injuries in our game against La Cañada [on Aug. 31]. It’s hard when you’re down to 13 players and you’d be asking them all to play on offense, defense and special teams.”
Glendale was set to face Muir (3-1), ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division XI, having lost four games in a row. The Nitros began the season with a nonleague home win against Mendez before suffering nonleague defeats against La Cañada, San Gabriel and Capistrano Valley Christian before falling to Burroughs in a league-opening tilt.
Several players are finished for the season because of injuries, Harris said. Harris added five starters were out against Burroughs, leaving them thin on both sides of the ball.
Harris said starting senior wide receiver/defensive back Chris Juarez (knee) and junior wide receiver/defensive back Josh Tomihara (arm) will miss the remainder of the season because of their injuries.
In addition, Glendale senior quarterback Juan Estrada missed two games and part of another with an injury before returning against Burroughs.
“We’ve got half of our team banged up and we’ll see where we go from here against Arcadia,” Harris said. “Hopefully, some of the guys will be back and set to play. It depends on how they respond to treatment.”
After Arcadia, Glendale has remaining league games against Crescenta Valley on Oct. 11, Burbank on Oct. 18 and Pasadena on Oct. 25.
Glendale has struggled in recent years, going 1-8 and 0-6 in the Pacific League in 2018. The last time a Nitros team won more than two games in a season was 2014 (3-7) and Glendale hasn’t had a winning campaign since going 6-4 (3-4 in league for fourth place) in 2008.
It’s been trying times of late for Glendale area football programs.
Hoover, Glendale’s cross-town rival, decided in May to not field a varsity team this season and 2020, but will look to have a squad in time for 2021. Hoover forfeited its final four games last season following an on-campus brawl that took place in October and involved some members of the team, leading to the program being scrapped.
